


5 Times Chip Tolentino Wanted To Kiss Leaf Coneybear and the One Time He Did

by at_the25annualputnamcountyspellingbee



Series: Five Times One Time [1]
Category: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - Finn/Sheinkin/Reiss
Genre: I love these fics not gonna lie, M/M, this is so self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-03-29 08:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13923069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/at_the25annualputnamcountyspellingbee/pseuds/at_the25annualputnamcountyspellingbee
Summary: Chip has always been hotheaded but reluctant.  He wants to love Leaf but can never bring himself to act on it.****(MILDLY) REVISED AS OF 12/10/18****





	1. 1.  Falling in a Forest

They weren't even close to dating yet. Both were the young age of fourteen, and Leaf had just smashed face-first into the ground.

"Are you okay?" Chip asked, still sitting in the tree. Leaf looked up and nodded. He had a stupid grin and blood on his face. Chip realized Leaf's nose was crooked. "Holy shit, is it broken?"

"Is what- Oh! Ouch, that hurts that hurts that HURTS!"

He scrambled down the tree and ran over to Leaf who was gently prodding his nose and wincing. "Don't touch it! Hey, just- just take your hands away from your face." He kneeled down. It was definitely broken, crooked and spouting blood. There were tears welling in his eyes. Chip didn't blame him, as he had broken his arm in fourth grade and was well aware of how much it hurt. 

Right then, he felt this overwhelming urge to very gently grab his face and just kiss him. In fact, he slid his hand under Leaf's chin and tilted it upwards. It was only when he looked directly into his green, teary eyes that he snapped out of whatever trance he was in and quickly withdrew his hand.

"We should get you inside. Here." He stood and offered a hand to Leaf. He pulled him up and slid his arm underneath his shoulder to support him.

Leaf laughed, wiping tears off of his cheek with his other hand. "It's not my leg that's broken," he managed to say as he tried to steady his breathing.

"Oh, shush. I'm being nice. You know how hard that is for me."

"It's hard? Cause you seem like a natural."

It was hard to hide his blush, but Leaf was so dazed that he didn't notice. It was so hard hanging around the guy he liked, especially when he was so nice and so close to him. They reached Leaf's house and Chip pushed open the door. "Mrs Coneybear? Leaf's hurt."

A tall red-headed woman hustled out of the kitchen. "What happened, dear?"

"I fell outta a tree, mom!" Leaf said.

"It's probably broken," Chip added. "Ice pack and then doctor, since he's bleeding a lot and his nose is so crooked." Leaf coughed. "Lean forward," he instructed. He placed a hand on the back of Leaf's head and tilted it forward.

"You know quite a bit, honey. Are you planning on being a doctor yourself?" Mrs Coneybear asked.

"No, but I learned first aid as a scout. It might be a day or so before the swelling goes down enough for the doctor to check it."

She nodded, a little surprised by his maturity. "Okay, sweetie. Do you need to call your parents? I don't think Leaf is in much shape to be keeping company right now."

"Yeah, uh, where's the phone?"

She ushered him back into the kitchen. He called his mom and got her to leave to come pick him up. To pass the time, he sat with Leaf, who was hunched over on the couch.

"It's not even autumn," he muttered before bursting into giggles.

"What?"

He looked up at Chip, his red and puffy eyes contrasted by his loopy smile. "Leaves fall from trees in autumn. But it's summer."

Chip snorted and sunk into the couch. "Guess that tree was starting early." A thought struck him and he paused. "Are you concussed?"

"Am I what? Don't tell my mom I cuss."

"No, no, just- what's your name?"

"Leaf Coneybear!"

"What's today?"

"Uh... It's June."

From most people, that would be concerning, but Leaf barely knows what month it is to begin with. "Who am I?"

"Chip Tolentino! My best friend."

"How many siblings do you have?"

"Six! Marigold, Brooke, Raisin, Pinecone, Landscape, and... And..." He frowned. "Oh! Paul."

There was a knock at the door. "That's probably my mom." Mrs Coneybear walked out to the living room. "Make sure he's checked for concussion," Chip said as he stood up. "Thanks for having me over."

"It's no issue, sweetie. I'm sorry you had to cut your visit short."

With a final wave to Leaf, he walked out the front door. The minute he left, the world's slowest growing pit began to grow in his stomach, starting the lengthy, years-long development.


	2. Woah Now, That's Kind of Gay, Chip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leaf Coneybear has no sense of personal space, and Chip's little gay heart can barely handle it.

Leaf had little understanding of privacy and personal space, which was painful when all Chip wanted to do was slam him against a wall. But, he managed to roll with it and play back.

But this time, this time, it was almost too much for his little gay heart to bear. Leaf was sitting on his lap, hands pinning Chip to the ground, extremely proud to have won whatever bastardization of wrestling they were attempting. It wasn't that hard to win against someone who was so deeply in love and therefore unable to concentrate.

In fact, he was staring right into Leaf's beautifully green eyes in a state of shock. Leaf cocked his head. "You alright? Did I mess something up?"

"N-no." He was absolutely positive his face was cherry red.

"Okay, cause the rules weren't all that clear, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't, ya know, cheating or something-"

As he talked, Chip became increasingly aware of how awkward this was, and also how cute Leaf was when he rambled. Thank god Leaf wasn't making eye contact with him, because he couldn't tear his eyes away from him. There were no hands pinning him, as Leaf tended to gesticulate as he spoke. He didn't mean to grab Leaf's shoulders, but c'mon, what else can he do with his hands? Before he could stop himself, Chip rolled over, pinning Leaf underneath him. Leaf was stunned into silence. They stared at each other for a second. Chip laughed nervously. "I win?"

Leaf snorted. "You cheated, I think."

"No, pretty sure that was legal."

"Was not!"

"Was too."

Leaf retorted by tickling his sides. Chip wheezed and rolled off of Leaf, landing with a thud beside him. "That was a dick move."

"I win," he said smugly, turning his head to look at Chip. Chip shifted his head too, breath hitching as their noses brushed. He hadn't thought he was that close to Leaf, and their proximity was unnerving. Was he being too playful? Did he seem flirty? To balance out any possibility of that, he elbowed Leaf in ribs and scoffed. "As if. Clearly an illegal move."

Leaf laughed. "You're just mad cause you didn't think of it first. Tickling is a legitimate wrestling move."

"What-ever. Cheater." Being around Leaf was so easy. He didn't have to be "mature". With Leaf he could be a stupid teenager and screw around. "What do you wanna do now, since we see to have exhausted whatever the hell we were just doing?"

He shrugged. "We could go outside."

"Only if you stay out of trees."

"Hey! I'm a Leaf, it's only natural to being in trees."

He sat up and nudged Leaf's leg with his foot. "You're an idiot. C'mon, let's get outside before it gets dark."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm rewriting that one super long unfinished fic I published because it does NOT fit in with like half the stuff I've written lol.


	3. Spelling Bee Fun With Chip Tolentino

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And by fun, depressing repression of romantic feelings towards a best friend is actually implied. Any misunderstanding is unfortunate but unintended.

It was at the 28th Annual Spelling Bee. Four of the original six (minus Olive and Marcy) had made it back that year. It was hard for Chip to watch Leaf in his natural element. It was even harder because they sat next to each other.

He stopped himself from staring at Leaf (as staring always led to bad things), but no one could fail to observe at least some of Leaf's frustrating mannerisms. The way his tongue poked out of his mouth while he stared off into the distance. How he perked up at the sound of his name. His nervous grinning at Chip whenever Chip was called up. The heat emanating from his body and the pure energy he let off in an aura around him.

It was when Leaf was called to spell "lisztomania" that it became almost too much for him. Leaf's spelling ability seemed to fluctuate, and no one was ever sure what he would get right or wrong. At fifteen, he was a lot less clueless than in previous years, and hadn't gotten too distracted yet.

"Definition?" He asked.

"A need to listen to music constantly."

Most of the kids had caught on by now that the sentences were useless and tended to skip them unless stalling for time. He rocked back on his heels and slowly spelled, "Lisztomania. L-I-S-Z-T-O-M-A-N-I-A. Lisztomania."

"That is correct."

Leaf spun around to return to his seat. He caught Chip's eye and grinned wildly. Chip smiled back, desperately failing in his attempts to forget how in love he was. God, he looked so happy and excited and adorable and wow he should probably look away before something bad happens.

"Mister Tolentino."

He took a breath to refocus himself and approached the microphone.

"Apodyopsis."

"Apodyopsis. Can I have a definition?"

"The act of mentally undressing someone."

He sighed and silently wondered if this was being done on purpose. "Apodyopsis. A-P-O-D-Y-O-P-S-I-S. Apodyposis."

"Correct. Mister Barfée."

Leaf snickered as Chip set down. "What kinda word is that?" He whispered, leaning closer to him.

Even though he knew he shouldn't, he leaned over as well. Their faces were only inches apart. "I think they're trying to make fun of me," he whispered back. 

"Only the speller at the microphone may speak!"

"Whoops," Leaf said. He lost his balance as he sat up, and he fell against Chip, knocking them both out of their seats. Leaf's head ended up on Chip's stomach. Chip froze. He let Leaf sit up first before he moved. Leaf scrambled to his feet and offered Chip a hand. He pulled him to his feet, the momentum bringing their faces close together yet again. After a second of stunned silence, Leaf's breath ever so gently brushing his cheek, Chip fell back into his seat.

"Return to your seat, Mister Coneybear."

He hurriedly sat with a dorky grin plastered across his face. Chip dug his nails into his knees and stared at the floor. Right then, he had been forced to tear his eyes away from Leaf's. All he had wanted was to pull him closer and kiss him ever so gently. God, Leaf was such a clumsy person, and Chip secretly relished all of the extra contact it brought him whenever he helped Leaf up or their arms brushed together or Leaf misjudged the space between them and invaded his personal space (something he never minded). Every time he felt the warmth of Leaf's skin against his, he felt-

NO

NOT HERE

STOP

He gripped his knees harder, wincing as his nails threatened to puncture his skin. Vaguely he wondered how much longer he could survive like this, all this hiding and repressing and fear. Thankfully, he was called up to the microphone, pulling him away from that train of thought. Still, the thought of pressing his lips against Leaf's soft, warm ones brought him simultaneous excitement and fear as he continued to spell.


	4. Iiiiiit's Prom Season, Folks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chip and Leaf go to prom together. What will win: Chip's urge to kiss his boyfriend or his fear of coming out at school?

Prom, junior year. They had been dating for maybe a month. It had been surreal for Chip. It had taken one night to go from best friends to boyfriends. Chrissake, they’d already made out! It was like someone had slammed the fast forward button on their relationship.

They were dating, and even more than that, they were friends, so of course Chip was taking him to prom. Olive and Marcy had helped them pick matching outfits and to get ready tonight. If Chip was wearing some makeup, it was because Olive had sworn that he looked better with foundation on ("Your face is normally great, but this is perfection!") and that no one would be able to notice. He had to admit that she did a good job covering up blemishes.

Leaf in formal clothing was a rare sight. He complained that suits were stiff and uncomfortable. Skirts and dresses were less harshly criticized, though he was still not a fan of them. Every time Chip had seen him dressed up, he had fallen a little more in love with how hot that boy was.

He parked his car outside of the Coneybear residence. It was a few minutes before he actually approached the door. When he knocked, Marigold answered.

She nodded approvingly. "Not bad, Tolentino. I think you might be worthy of taking my brother to a dance."

"Thanks." He smiled awkwardly. "Is he- are they almost done with him?"

She shrugged. "Marcy's working with a hopeless case, it's bound to take some time. Come on in and wait."

It's always awkward to be around the family of a new SO. He had known them for years, but addition of a relationship had made him feel weird around them, especially since Marigold was the only one of them who knew they were dating. Her and Olive were the only two people on earth who knew.

While he was wrapped up in his anxious thoughts and ruminations, Leaf came down the stairs. Marigold punched Chip, jolting him out of his pondering state. His jaw dropped a little when he saw Leaf. God, there was nothing quite like Leaf Coneybear in dress clothes. And the best part was that they were actually dating. This wasn't just some sight destined to become masterbation material, it was his boyfriend, wearing a shirt and tie. Composing himself, he stood and walked over to Leaf, who stood awkwardly still. He gave him a casual pat on the back.

"Looking nice, dude," he managed, because everything else he wanted to say was a little too gay.

Marcy humphed. "Where's my thanks? There's a reason he looks so nice, and it's mostly me."

Leaf wrapped her up in a hug. "Thanks, Marcy," he said.

"That's more like it. No problem, Leaf. It's fun playing dress up." She looked between the two. "Huh. Matching on purpose?"

"Uh, yeah," Chip said with a scoff. "I've got a reputation at my school, Marcy, and believe it or not, it's a good one. I couldn't afford a slip up at prom. Think of my social standing."

"Dramatic little bitch, aren't you. And Leaf is the theater kid?" Marcy crossed her arms.

"I'm an athlete, Marcy. I don't have time."

"Excuses."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say. Anyway, Leaf and I should get rolling. Thank you for you service."

"Always a pleasure. Have fun," she said.

Before they could go, Leaf's mom caught them and had them pose for photos. They managed to escape to Chip's car and drive off after she had finished and before anyone else could drag them away.

"What's prom like?" Leaf asked.

Chip shrugged, eyes focused on the road. "There's music and dancing. We get dinner first. It's like a fancier school dance."

"Oh." He was quiet for a minute. "I, uh, I've never been to a dance before."

"Oh. You'll be fine. Just music, people, dancing, and talking."

"That's a lot of things."

Chip chuckled. "It's not that bad. You'll see when we get there. Dances aren't easy to describe, it's just an experience."

\-----

They had been there for forty minutes, and Chip had lost track of Leaf. He scanned the room frantically and left to check the bathrooms again. On his way out, a girl (Masie, he was pretty sure) stopped him.

"Are you okay? I've watched you run in and out, like, five times already."

"You haven't, uh, happened to see a ginger guy walk out of here about ten minutes ago, would you?"

"Actually, yeah, I have. Freckled to hell and back, green bow tie, disoriented?"

He let out a sigh of relief. "That's him. Did you see what way he went?"

Masie pointed right. "Down the hall. Haven't seen him since. Who is he, by the way? Your boyfriend?"

His heart about skipped a beat. "Wh- I, uh, what?"

"Teasing. You guys are matching, I figured I'd ask. I'm trying to see if my girlfriend and I are the only gay couple here or not."

Of course. Masie, the Gay-Straight Alliance president. Openly gay since eighth grade. Who didn't know that Chip was gay but knew that he was chill about it at the very least. "Uh, he's Leaf. He's, well, we're dating, but please don't tell anyone."

She nodded. "No problem. I understand. I'll let you go find him now. Have fun, Chip."

"Thanks, uh, you too, Masie." He gave a little wave and hurried off in the indicated direction.

\------

"Oh god, there you are." He breathed a sigh of relief when he turned the corner and saw Leaf sitting. His relief turned to worry the longer he looked at him. Leaf had taken off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a solid white undershirt. He stared at the ground silently, rubbing the fabric of his shirt. Whenever Leaf freaked out or panicked, he withdrew and disassociated. Chip had quickly learned that picking at his skin was his way of staying grounded. He sat down next to him. "What's wrong?" He asked quietly.

"Loud," Leaf mumbled. "I can't think and my body feels all numb and it scares me cause you're the only person I know." Leaf had always been honest and upfront about his feelings, and it made helping him so much easier. He knew Leaf liked being in contact with someone to bring himself down to earth, so he leaned against him and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"You scared me when you disappeared." It wasn't meant as a criticism, rather a declaration of how he felt.

"I couldn't find you and I couldn't concentrate so I left to find quiet and this was as quiet as I could find." He buried his face in Chip's hair and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "Sorry for scaring you." Leaf showing affection was a good sign. The happier he felt, the touchier he was. Even as "just friends" that had been a noticeable pattern.

"Do you want to leave? We can just head back to my house, since you're staying the night anyway. They won't care if we're back early."

"If you don't mind..."

"I mean, your ass does look really nice in those pants, but I won't complain if you want take them off." Leaf laughed and blushed a little at that. Chip stood and offered him a hand up, which he readily accepted. He grabbed his jacket and they headed back up the hallway. As soon as they passed the restrooms, Chip stopped. "We should probably straighten you up real quick," he said, turning to face Leaf. His fingers fumbled with the buttons of Leaf's dress shirt. Once he had buttoned it up, Leaf tucked it back in.

"Good?" He asked.

"Great." Damn, he was cute. If they weren't in an area with so many people coming and going, he would've given him a peck on the lips. He was tempted, but the fear of being outed held him back. Instead, he stepped back around to stand side by side with Leaf. With his hand resting on the small of Leaf's back, they walked to the entrance where a chaperone stood to make sure no one snuck out. Someone's dad. Chip removed his hand. "Is it alright if we go?"

The man looked up from his phone. "What's your name?" He picked up a clipboard from the folding chair beside him. "We have to record who leaves and who comes in," he explained.

"Chip Tolentino. This is Leaf Coneybear."

He nodded as he scribbled the names down. "Good to go. Have a nice night, gentlemen."

Chip nodded. "Thanks, you too." He pushed the door open and felt the cool night air surround them. Maybe when they got to his car, he could steal a kiss. He took Leaf's hand and led him off in search of where the fuck he had parked.


	5. Summertime Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chip's siblings are home for the summer, something Chip isn't used to. When family is home, privacy isn't all that private.

Chip had two older siblings: a brother and a sister. Both were off at college most of the time so he really had nothing to worry about when it came to privacy. At least, during the school year. When summer rolled around, that changed quite a bit. Especially since he and his brother shared a room.

Chip's favorite part of summer was spending time with Leaf. There was no school to stress them, no commitments. Even as friends they had spent a lot of the time together, exploring forests, playing games, talking.... and now, at least, kissing. That, in Chip's opinion, was a pretty great addition to their time together. One rather troubling issue was secrecy. Normally, Chip's room was secluded enough, but his brother being home in the summer would complicate things. For the time being, though, he ignored it and enjoyed being with Leaf.

Ignorance was not always blissful. Like a fool, Chip had leaned over to steal a kiss right as the door opened. He shot back like a rocket and overcompensated, landing flat on his back.

"Hey," his brother said. "What's up?"

"Chilling," Chip said in a very not-chill way.

"Nice," he said with a nod, obviously disinterested in whatever Chip was actually doing. "Listen, did you move my charger? Cause I got things to do and that son of a bitch is dead as a doornail."

"Did you check the desk?"

"Of course I checked the desk, dipshit. It's not there."

Chip sat up and shrugged. "I didn't mess with it. Jez probably borrowed it."

Percy snorted. "Keep the suggestions rolling, Chip, cause I'm a big fan of hearing everything I've done already."

"Check the fucking desk, you bastard. It's not my problem. I don't have a laptop to charge."

He walked into the room. "I don't give a fuck if you have a friend over, I will beat the living shit out of you if you messed with it."

"I didn't touch it!" He threw his hands up in the air. "I have no compulsion to mess with anything of yours. Stop blaming me."

He spent the next few minutes digging through the mess on top of the desk. Chip sat awkwardly close to Leaf. He really, really wanted to kiss Leaf but did not want to risk his brother seeing him do that. Instead, he let their arms brush. The room was silent except for Percy muttering obscenities under his breath.

A few minutes later, Percy stepped back in triumph, charger in hand. "Hell yeah. Wait, shit, where's my wallet?"

"Bed," Chip said without looking at him. Maybe he was a little distracted by Leaf, who had begun staring a hole into the wall across from him. That happened a lot. If Leaf wasn't actively doing something, his mind wandered. Chip watched him. His lips were slightly parted and he looked almost contemplative. He looked cute like that. Okay, he looked cute all of the time. Percy's question ran through his head again. He looked up. "Why do you need your wallet? Are you going out?"

"Ha, I wish. Lost a bet with Jez." Not particularly odd. Chip and his siblings were all competitive people, and his siblings were always going head to head about something or another.

"Over what?" He asked, less out of curiosity and more out of habit.

"You being gay. Which, by the way, means that we gotta start up the sock rule again, buddy."

Chip jolted. "Wait, what? You, you guys were betting on that?"

"Of course, Charlito. Damnit, I was convinced you were straight. Whatever happened to your first love?" Percy ran his eyes over Leaf again. "Isn't that her brother?"

Chip sighed. "I was twelve, and apparentybshes a lesbian."

”Okay. Time for me to go. Remember, sock on the door so I know to knock."

"Or you could just always knock? A common courtesy?" Chip offered.

"It was my room first, dumbass. Besides, courtesy is for brothers who don't cost me fifty bucks and who don't make me walk in on him shoving his tongue down his buddy's throat."

"You what? When?" He felt his face go red. His brother saw him kissing Leaf?

He shrugged. "I came in like, an hour ago to get my laptop and you did not see me at all apparently." He held up his hands. "I'm not gonna tell mom as long as you do the sock thing, cause you had my back when I was your age. But I see anymore face sucking and she will find out somehow." With a sigh, he added, "At least you're a top, so you haven't completely disappointed me yet. Oh yeah, one more thing.” He lowered his voice as if he were sharing some great secret. “You need any protection, lemme know and I can give you stuff. Safe sex, dude." He flashed a peace sign at him and left the room. 

A second later, he poked his head back in. "Sock, Charlito. Also, is your boyfriend asleep or something? Ninety percent of what I just said was specifically to embarrass you in front of him and I don't think he heard any of it."

Chip looked over at Leaf, who was still staring at the wall. "He does that sometimes. He's not asleep, just thinking."

"Weird." He shut the door and walked away. 

Chip sighed and pulled one of his socks off. He opened the door just enough to hang the sock over the doorknob and then shut the door again.


	6. The One Time He Kissed Leaf (Publically)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chip caves to his impulses.

Now that he was seventeen and priding himself on maturity, Chip Tolentino refused to get into fights. He'd be damned, though, if that kept him from being a petty piece of shit. Especially to Will. They had never really made up, and the tension between them could still be felt.

After spending ten minutes talking to Olive after the 25th annual, Chip had concluded that she was kind of cool, actually. That entire group had kept in close-ish contact, so everyone saw one another every now and then, though there were varying levels of closeness between each person.

There was no great unifier, though, like the good old spelling bee itself. Only 2/3 of the original group was participating this year, as Marcy had graciously given up spelling and the group traditionally bet on whether or not Leaf would win his district bee. Chip had lost several dollars this year and was less than pleased, but he still loved his boyfriend very much.

They had all agreed to meet up the week before, as a friend group, to have fun before tensions ran too high. The ice cream shop two blocks away from the elementary was the great equalizer of distances for all, thus becoming their primary hangout destination.

Chip was an attentive friend, or, well, he tried to be. Since becoming aware of how much of a dick he was, he had tried to make up for it by actively being nicer. Especially since his troop friends had all but abandoned him when he had tried to come out as a sophomore. Having a group of nice people around was better, even if that meant hanging out around Will. He didn't like Will much, but the guy was Olive's boyfriend and had thankfully mellowed out a bit because of it.

They had been to the ice cream shop so often that Chip had everyone's order memorized. A scoop of Superman for Leaf (which he didn't understand, as it tasted very much like Play-Doh, but he had grown to accept Leaf's odd tastes), scoop of coffee for Logainne, plain chocolate for Olive, vanilla for Will, mint chocolate chip for Marcy, and strawberry for himself. Before everyone split to fulfill their duties, a small cash fund was organized to pay. Then, Chip ordered and carried cones back to the table with help from Will and Logainne while Leaf and Marcy scoped out a table. Olive was on napkin duty, a position honored and respected by the rest of the group because of their messy tendencies.

Today, everything worked as planned. They got a booth to fit everyone and their napkin collection was deemed sufficient by Olive. Leaf, Marcy, and Olive were seated in time for the arrival of ice cream.

The three ice cream bearers held their own cone and one other persons. Will handed Marcy her cone, Logainne gave Leaf his, and Chip hand Olive hers with a flourish. She laughed, though was careful not to tip her cone.

Chip slid into the booth next to Leaf and across from Olive. Logainne sat next to him, and Will sat across from her. The first minute or so was silent as everyone ate.

"How's school for everyone?" Logainne asked eventually. Her lisp was still present, but had been weakened considerably by therapy.

"It's a catholic girl's school, that's for sure," Marcy declared. "Bo-ring. I wish I went to public school."

"I failed my math test," Leaf piped up, his mouth already covered in rainbow ice cream.

Will hesitated before saying, "I won an essay contest."

Olive and Chip shrugged, both lacking anything interesting to add.

"School as usual," Chip said. "If anything actually cool happened, it'd probably get banned."

Olive laughed a little at that. Chip saw Will shift closer to her. When he glared at Chip, he got an uneasy feeling. He felt like Will was getting defensive, but there wasn't any reason for him to be. He and Olive were just friends. Chip was definitely not hitting on her.

It wasn't Chip's fault for not coming out. Not entirely. The atmosphere of this group was a lot more open than his old one, but every time the opportunity arose he felt nausea, remembering how his old friends had reacted. He and Leaf had been dating for almost a full year, but had told only Olive. They texted regularly to talk about their respective boyfriends. So Chip had assumed that she had told Will.

He was not in the mood to take shit from Will, though. Not today. He grabbed Leaf's hand under the table and gave it a squeeze in a futile attempt to calm down.

"You okay, Will?" He asked coolly. "You're looking a little upset about something."

"I'm sick of you flirting with my girlfriend, Tolentino."

"She laughed at my joke, I can't help that I'm funny."

Olive looked like she wanted to say something, but opted out and closed her mouth tightly.

"Yeah, real funny. Knock it off."

Chip squeezed Leaf's hand again, tightly enough that Leaf looked up from his ice cream cone. "Hmm?" He asked, lost.

Before Chip could stop himself from bring a brash idiot, he unclasped his hand from Leaf's and, sliding his fingers through his hair, pulled him in for a kiss. Leaf, still pretty confused, happily accepted the affection before returning to his ice cream.

Chip wiped melted ice cream off his face with the back of his hand before addressing Will again. "Like I said, you dumb shit, I'm not hitting on your girlfriend."

The table was silent, everyone stunned and confused by what had just taken place.

As quickly as they had fallen silent, everyone spoke up. Simultaneously. It was great.

Olive: "Um, Chip, I didn't tell Will."

Logainne: "You're gay?"

William: "What the fuck?"

Marcy: "Damn, Tolentino, you've got a type."

Leaf: "Did I miss something?"

"Please, just!" Everyone shut up when Chip began talking. Goddamnit, impulsiveness. His stupid actions now required an explanation.

"You're gay?" Logainne repeated.

Chip sighed. "I, well, no. I think I’m, like, bisexual or whatever."

Marcy leaned back. "How long have you guys been dating, and why didn't you tell any of us?"

"It's been almost a year, and, well, uh..." He sunk a little in his seat. "Last time I came out to my friends, it didn't go well. I didn't want to ruin this."

Will looked at Olive. "You knew about this?"

She nodded hesitantly. "He told me, but I didn't want to tell anyone else and have it turn out he wanted it to stay secret so, I just didn't say anything."

Leaf's hand found Chip's and he squeezed it reassuringly. Chip shifted and leaned into Leaf for comfort, resting his head on his shoulder.

"Since Chip went ahead and broke the ice with that, I'm a lesbian," Marcy said. Everyone laughed a little, the tense atmosphere relaxing. 

"I'm bisexual, too," Logainne added helpfully.

"Is anyone here straight, then?" Olive asked.

William shrugged.

She tilted her head. "Are you bi too?"

He shrugged again. "I'm not really sure," he admitted.

"Today," Leaf declared, "has been an educational day." His face was covered in melted ice cream.

"Do you need a napkin?" Chip asked him, looking up.

Leaf frowned and nodded. "That too." Chip picked a couple off of the top of the stack and handed them to him.

"So when did you two start dating, exactly?" Marcy asked.

"After the bee last year," Chip said.

Marcy leaned forward, resting her chin on one hand. "Full story, right here right now."

Chip sat up. "Well, uh, I'm sure everyone remembers the events of last year's bee," he started, with a tense laugh.

Will snorted.

"I spent the night at Leaf's house, afterwards. A sleepover. It was fun." He hesitated, not sure how to continue the story.

"Come on, Chip," Marcy teased.

"Just give me a second, Marcy. I, well, we were playing 20 questions, and he, he figured out that I liked him, and things just went from there."

”We spent an hour making out on my bed,” Leaf said nonchalantly, punctuating the sentence with a bite of his cone.

”Thanks, Leaf,” Chip mumbled, his face turning red as everyone laughed. 

"You really have a thing for Coneybears, don't you?" Marcy asked.

"I guess," he said with a nervous laugh.

"And you kept this a secret for a year?" Will asked. "That's kind of impressive, considering both of you suck at being subtle at anything."

Chip flipped him off.

"It would have to be difficult pretending that you weren't fucking your best friend. Props to you for that." Marcy tipped her cone at them in a mock salute.

"We aren't fucking!" Chip spluttered. "We're barely seventeen!"

Everyone laughed again. "Joking, Chip. I'm joking." Marcy paused. "Though, with the whole erection problem, one could only guess."

Leaf pressed a kiss to Chip's cheek. "So were not telling them about spring break?" He whispered into his ear.

Chip gave him a peck and murmured, "Yeah, definitely not."

"Oh, and now there's twice as much gross couple stuff." Marcy mimed gagging.

Leaf rolled his eyes, grinned, and kissed Chip again. "Just get a girlfriend then, Marcy."

Marcy glanced over at Logainne, who didn't notice. She sighed dramatically. "You say that like I'm not trying. Wooing girls is tough cause they don't notice when you're flirting."

"Then be direct," Chip said. He shrugged. "Worked for me."

Marcy sighed again. "Fine, I'll keep that in mind." She looked over at Logainne once more. "Hey Schwartz?"

"What?"

"I really like you. Wanna go out on a date sometime?"

Logainne blinked, eyes wide. "I... What?"

Will laughed, head resting in one hand. "Oh my god."

"I meant what I said. Do you wanna go on a date sometime? My treat?"

Logainne froze. "I..." She started and trailed off again, unsure of what to say. "I like you too," she said quietly.

Marcy breathed a sigh of relief. "That was a gamble."

William buried his face in his hands, having finished his ice cream finally. "Oh my god, I hate every single one of you," he said, still laughing. "You're all a bunch of idiots."

"Takes one to know one, Will," Chip said, taking the last bite of his cone. He felt the weight of Leaf's hand in his and decided that today, overall, had been a very good day.


End file.
